I hope we can still be friends . . .

Well folks, my dreams of stardom were crushed today.  I guess there's nothing quite like an American Idol-sized serving of rejection to snap me back to reality.  Don't worry though, I'm cool with it.  I've gotta admit that I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I did learn several lessons today that I will be happy to share with any of you who dare to audition in the future:

1.  Most of the people trying out are just normal, nice as can be, just looking for a lucky break.  I made some really nice new friends from all over the country.  The wackos were certainly surfacing, and were promptly rewarded with a golden ticket to further embarrass themselves on a much larger scale.

2.  If you're dying to get a glimpse of "The Big Three" - Randy, Paula and Simon, you will be sorely disappointed.  They don't even bring in the big guns until the Fall.  

3.  There really are some very talented singers out there.  I heard about five people that would blow you away!  But for the 15 or so that I saw make it, I saw about 800 get turned away.  

4.  Reality television is a tough gig!  We had to sing, scream, and cheese our guts out for hours before the tryouts ever began.  I mean hours people!!!

5.  Who would have thought that so many pregnant ladies would have the energy to endure such a strenuous tryout!  We counted over sixty of them and several looked like they could pop at any second.  Only in Utah!!!

6.  Ryan Seacrest sure can bounce back after a shark attack!  He also seemed to be a very nice guy, and kept defying the director to pose for pictures with adoring fans.

7.  This tryout reminded me more of a cattle drive than a singing audition.  Pretty much you shout your song out in an arena flanked by hundreds of other hopefuls who are either belting a tune of their own out, warming up their vocals two feet behind you or just chatting up the people around them.  I still can't be sure my judge even heard my song. (Which was Free Fallin' by Tom Petty, by the way).  Oh well, you live, you learn. 

8.  I already knew this before I auditioned, but I have the greatest husband in the world.  Not only did this tone-deaf little bugger sing, dance and ham his little heart out in an attempt to land us a coveted spot on camera, but he made sure I had water, nourishment, encouragement and a lot of fun all day and even made me feel okay about being a loser at the end of the day.

Yes, it was rough, but I'm glad I did it.  Of course rejection never feels very good, but I really think it's better than spending the rest of my life wishing I had given it a try.  And by the way, thanks for all the nice things you guys wrote on my last post.  I'm going to go back to being plain old me now and I hope that's cool with everyone.  

I Have a Secret . . .

I have gone back and forth about this post for a while now.  Mostly because I was worried I would chicken out, but it looks like there's no turning back now that I have the red wristband.  I figure I better just get this news off my chest.  Call me crazy, but I have opted to become the target of public scrutiny and try out for American Idol.  So today, Kolby and I got up at the crack of dawn and headed to the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake to stand in line with the ginormous crowd and register for the big event.  I'm not going to lie to you, I'm pretty dang nervous for my tryout on Tuesday.  Most who know me know I LOVE to sing, but I'm really not that confident in my on-camera charisma.  Hopefully I can be calm, cool and collected when I sing and not suffer a bout of nausea or worse, diarrhea.  I'll post again if the impossible happens and I get through.  If not, well, let's just pretend this post never happened . . . 

Buddies!

You know how you have friends who you haven't seen for a while, but when you get together, you feel like no time has passed at all?  Well, that is how I feel with these old pals!  We had a really fun BBQ this past Sunday with Riley Jones and his wife Dafne and also Katie and Bob Clayton and their little girl Braeley, who I'm sad to say, we haven't seen in years.  We did spend a lot of time together after we graduated from high school, Katie was my roomie in college even, but you know how things go, you get married, start a family and before you know it, you haven't seen your friends in over a year, then two years and so on.  Well, we all just decided that we have to quit being such crappy friends and start visiting each other more!  It was fun to see where their lives have taken them and also laugh about all the fun we had in high school!  Thanks guys!  Lets do this more often!  

Gone Fishin'

This week, we went to Bear River in the Uintas with Grandma and Grandpa, The Washburns, and the Krogans, and we haven't had so much fun getting so dirty in a long time. Luckily, I captured this picture of a very happy Winnie when she was still clean on our first day.

I must admit that Conzo was heavily outnumbered by the ladies in this crew, but the kids really had a ball!   
Dad's looking pretty chipper after a night of no sleep.  Seriously, what can we do to get Winnie to sleep through the night?  Oh well, at least they looked cute!

We are now addicted to driving rangers in the mountains!  If you have never tried these babies, you are seriously missing out!  We could fit our whole family in one, and we climbed those rocky cliffs like a mountain goat!  ( I think they are good climbers!)

Thanks to Jordie, Kathryn, Jane, and Caroline for being so nice to June and Winnie!  We are already missing you guys!

Just had to throw this picture in because it was too cute!  So we didn't catch any fish in this pond, but we caught a few salamanders and made a few tasty mud pies!

We stopped at this beautiful waterfall on our way home.  What a fun trip!

Gettin' Wii fit!

Kolby and June have taken full advantage of Yaya Julie's Wii fit game.  In fact, they have been working out on it every day to improve their strength, balance, and overall fitness level!  Here are a couple of pictures of them doing a bit of yoga.  What a couple of skinny minnies!  

Please send your prayers our way

Well, I am the proud auntie of a new nephew, Tukker Bott (although big brother Caulder named him Nacho.)  He was born yesterday morning.  I saw him last night and he is the cutest little dude ever!  I don't know if I mentioned it on my blog, but my sister-in-law Misty has been enduring a very rough pregnancy and trying to keep this little fellow in her belly for as long as she could even though she was leaking amniotic fluid and on bed rest in the hospital.  Well, Tukker couldn't wait any longer and was born at 27 weeks.  He's in the NICU now and has a long road ahead so please add him to your prayer list.  I think he has been a miracle baby so far and we're banking on him staying that way!      

By the Powers of Greyskull . . .

Some kids go together like peas and carrots!  Take June and her cousin Caulder, for instance!  From the moment we arrived, this dynamic duo could not be torn apart!  It's funny how kids can pick up right where they left off!  In this case, a lengthy game of He-Man Masters of the Universe has become a daily ritual at the Johnson household!  We're so glad these super-heroes can play in person and no longer have to join forces via web cam! 

These three were quite the little hoodlums at their first cousin slumber party!  We watched a little Scooby Doo, ate a cup or two of goldfish, and stayed up way too late!